Mark Wahlberg looks set to join the Autobots and Decepticons as the star of the fourth instalment of the Transformers movie franchise.

Michael Bay, director and producer of the first three Transformer movies, has broken the news that Wahlberg will step in as Shia LaBeouf's replacement as the star of the next robo-romp, with the director keen to carry on the massively successful franchise even if it means taking on an all new cast. LaBeouf, Transformers 1 & 2 star Megan Fox, and the voice of Megatron Hugo Weaving have all spoken negatively of the film franchise in recent interviews, with Bay being less than impressed with each of the actors and their outbursts. As such, Bay has since given word that he be happy to seek out a whole new cast for the next movies and it looks as though Wahlberg has emerged as his ideal man for the job.

Bay posted on his blog on Thursday (Nov 8) that Mark would be: " the perfect guy to re-invigorate the franchise and carry on the Transformers' legacy."

Bay and Wahlberg recently worked together on the upcoming film Pain And Gain, which also stars Dwayne 'The Rock' Johnson, about a pair of bodybuilders who get caught up in an extortion ring and a kidnapping scheme that goes terribly wrong, Pain and Gain will be released on April 26th 2013.

Transformers 4 is set for a June 27, 2014, release through Paramount Pictures.